The One That Chose Right
by Heart of a Dixon
Summary: If every girl he ever loved only had eyes for his younger brother, then perhaps Damon should just give up. Or at least not tell them how he felt. Maybe that would work. Well, he couldn't stand to lose this one after all the others, never this one. So he would just keep her from the truth. Maybe that way he would someday have a chance at happiness. Damon/OC
1. What's Wrong With You?

DAMON'S POV:

"Its always going to be Stefan," I spat quietly to myself, sauntering drunkenly down the street.

Not only had Katherine told me she had never loved me, only Stefan… But Elena told me it would always be that way. Just one time, I wanted to be the one that got picked. But of course that wouldn't happen. Stefan was the obvious choice. He was GOOD, he fed on animals, he was selfless, he was kind. I, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

I detoured through the park, passing by a bench where a young woman was sitting, her head leaned down as her shoulders shook with her crying. I stopped walking in front of it, still facing the path, and turned my head to her. "What's the matter?" I asked, watching her with tear-heavy eyes.

She sniffed and wiped her hands around her eyes, lifting her head and trying to smile. "Nothing. I'm fine." She was kinda pretty. Long black hair with bangs reaching the bottom of her high cheekbones, mysteriously otherworldly hazel eyes, a little group of freckles over her nose, and the kind of large lips women tried and failed to get with Botox but that you could really only pull off naturally.

I shook my head and sat down beside her. "That would be like me saying nothing's wrong with me."

She looked up at me, but I was staring into the distance, at the little side-by-side homes that were turned into tiny little shops. "Well, what's the matter with you?" She had a rather pleasant voice.

I didn't even blink. "Every girl I've ever loved never wanted me. Only my brother. And, of course, he loved them, too."

I heard her sigh. "That's awful. I'm sorry. That's a much more problematic situation than mine."

I turned to look at her, frowning. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong with you now? I've told you my problem. Its your turn."

She turned her eyes downward. "Well, mine is more petty than that. I'm new in town-"

"I could tell."

She gave me a considering look before continuing. "And I had to leave behind everything I had back in Texas. So far my impression of Virginia isn't too good."

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "So far, I've almost been hit by a car, got myself pushed over by some guy in that grill over there, and then yelled at by him."

I furrowed my brow. Why wasn't I eating her by now? "Do you know who the guy was?"

She shook her head no. "He was just some guy. He had these funny looking glasses and a dorky purple leather jacket," she scoffed.

I nodded once. "What did he say?" I needed someone to eat, and for whatever reason, I was reluctant to eat this girl. I would take out the asshole that made her upset.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Its stupid."

I put a hand on her shoulder, making her look up at me. "What did he say?"

She hesitated before saying, "Just some stuff about me being a worthless waste of space. Some stuff about me needing to watch where I was going, even though he was the one that knocked me over." She broke off, shaking her head.

I removed my hand from her shoulder and stood up. "Well, I had better get going," Before I kill you. "It was nice to meet you…?"

"Kaila. Kaila Stevens."

"Damon Salvatore," I said, taking her hand and patting the top of it, still staring her in the eye. I nodded once to her and then dropped her hand, walking back the way I came. But this time I had some purpose.

KAILA'S POV:

I blushed as Damon walked away. He was extremely attractive, with black hair and ice blue eyes.

I sighed and stood from the bench. Leave it to a hot stranger to make you feel a little bit better about everything going on. I made my way home in the dark, walking up to the door of my house.

Well, I guess I should say it was my foster parents' house. They were not too cool. They were hardly ever home, and when they were, they weren't exactly the nicest "parents" you could come across. I was lucky enough for them not to be home tonight. I had only been with this pair of parents for a few weeks, but we had just moved to Mystic Falls from Texas.

My last pair of foster parents, the Stewarts, had died in a house fire one day while I was at school. They were nice enough, but they had left me to get adopted by these terrible people. I had been perfectly fine staying with the Stewarts, but everyone had a time, I guessed. It just seemed that every family I stayed with died a little sooner than everyone else their age.

The only two things that I had been able to keep with me besides trivial things like clothes and stuff were my mother's ring (a slim silver band with swirling patterns on the center) and my dog, Nuka, who was currently snoozing somewhere upstairs. Probably on the foot of my bed.

I sighed and trudged up the stairs to my room, plopping down onto the bed after an exhausting day, and falling asleep near instantly.

Oo0oO

The next morning, Jack and Julia ("what a perfect couples name," I though with heavy sarcasm) weren't home again. Probably at work.

I had school today. Yay.

I sat down at the dining room table and turned the TV on as I ate a bowl of Lucky Charms, thinking about that guy from last night at the park. It had probably just been a dream. He was far too fantastically, unrealistically handsome to have been true.

Something on the news caught my attention. It was a story on a man whose body was found out in the woods. It looked like he had been mauled by a large animal. There was a large bite mark on the side of his neck and blood was caked around it. His face, that held something familiar in it, was frozen in terror. Then, as the camera zoomed out of his face, I realized why he looked so familiar. Funny looking glasses, purple jacket… this was the guy from last night who had knocked me over and then yelled at me.

I gave the TV a suspicious look and turned it off, finishing my cereal quickly, getting dressed, pulling my hair up into a ponytail (leaving my bangs down), and grabbing my bag before heading out the door for school.

It seemed that everyone was getting ready for something, everyone was walking around in dresses, and cavalry uniforms, and blood-stained white shirts. Paint bottles, glitter containers, and pieces of banners littered the grass outside the school. Excited chatter filled the air as friends talked anxiously amongst each other.

I found a young man dressed in a blue uniform holding a bayonet in his hand, and asked, "What's going on around here?"

He chuckled. "It's the Founders Day Parade." I still looked confused, so he said, "The Gilbert, Salvatore, Forbes, Fell, Bennett, and Lockwood families were the founding families that, well you know, founded this town. We have big celebrations for them all the time."

I nodded and thanked him, walking to a nearby tree that didn't look like anyone was occupying.

Salvatore… That name was familiar.

I shook off the feeling and looked around a bit, watching everything around me with curiosity. First day in a new school and there's a parade. Lucky me.

I felt something tap my shoulder and turned around. I was met with a cocky smirk that replaced the saddened frown I had first seen (I decided this look suited him much more), and a pair of icy blue eyes. It was the guy from last night in the park.

* * *

**I know, I know, not my best piece of work. But, I'm still gonna upload it in case someone likes it. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :) **


	2. Parade

DAMON'S POV:

I had been wandering around after Stefan and Elena left to prepare their float.

By chance, I caught sight of a familiar head of hair. Long black hair, hanging straight down her back. I walked forward, a smirk on my face, and tapped her shoulder.

She turned around and when she caught sight of me, her eyes widened. "You," she said, looking surprised.

"What, did you think I was a dream?"

Her eyes shifted guiltily.

I raised a brow at her, still smirking. "I don't think your imagination is good enough to dream up this much attractiveness."

She laughed and then got serious. "You know that guy from last night that I told you about?"

I nodded. Oh I remembered. I remembered the way he screamed and the way that his blood had oozed between my teeth.

"He's dead. It was on the news this morning. They think he was attacked by an animal."

I tried to put on a concerned face. "There are a lot of animal attacks around this town."

"So what are you doing at this thing?" she asked, looking around. "Aren't you a bit old to be going to a high school parade?" If only she knew.

"I'm only 24, ma'am. I enjoy a good parade as much as anyone."

She chuckled and shook her head.

"So why aren't you with your friends?" I asked, looking around, for some reason grateful that she wasn't talking with anybody.

She shrugged, blushing. "I don't really have any. I just moved here. I'm new in town, remember?"

I vaguely remembered something like that. "So this is your first day of school?"

She nodded, lifting a slim hand to brush her bangs behind her ear where the front few pieces promptly fell back in front of her face.

I smirked. "Well, now you've got a friend," I leaned against the tree beside her.

She gave me an odd look, the dimple in her chin deepening as her hazel eyes brightened.

"Damon?" I heard a familiar voice ask, a note of panic obvious only to me.

Kaila's attention was turned away from me, but I kept my eyes on her. "Hello, Bonnie."

"Who's this?" I glanced up in time to see Bonnie's eyes nervously dart between me and Kaila. She thought I was toying with another girl just to get to her throat. Ahh, but this time the witch was wrong. I don't know why, but she was.

"Bonnie, this is Kaila Stevens. Kaila, meet Bonnie Bennett."

Bonnie stepped forward, a pleasant smile aimed at Kaila. "Hi. You know, you could come over here and sit with me to watch the parade if Damon's bothering you." She gave me a playful look that, to the untrained eye really seemed joking. But I knew she was just trying to get the girl safely away from me.

"Well, he's really n-"

"No, she's right," I said, staring Bonnie down. "Go ahead and make some friends." I turned to give her a sarcastic grin.

She hesitated. "Well… Okay."

Bonnie smiled at her and motioned for her to follow her over to the area she had staked out to watch the parade.

Kaila turned around before following after Bonnie. "I'll see you later?"

I lifted one side of my mouth in a half-smile. "Sure. Later, gator." I lifted my hand in a goodbye gesture as she walked toward Bonnie. I couldn't help but feel a little smug when I saw a guy or two watch her and then glance back at me, scowling darkly.

She would have no problem living in this town. At least I hope not.

KAILA'S POV:

Something I noticed about Damon Salvatore: he tended to use sarcasm in everything he said. Even when he wasn't being sarcastic. Just his tone indicated that everything he was telling you was either meant to be mean, or that everything was a joke to him. An ironically cruel joke, but a joke nonetheless.

Bonnie was a nice girl, she just seemed to have some kind of a problem with Damon.

I watched the floats go by as people cheered and I caught sight of Damon in front of us, waving to the Miss Mystic Falls float.

At the very top was a blond girl with a boy that looked vaguely familiar. He was the bus boy from the grill. Below them was a tan, beautiful young girl with another boy I didn't think I had ever seen. But he was looking right at Damon and scowling.

"That's my best friend, Elena," Bonnie told me, pointing to the tan girl.

"Who's that that's with her?"

"That's Stefan Salvatore. Damon's younger brother."

I deflated. That was his brother, and that was his brother's girlfriend. The one he had been talking about last night. Of course the incredibly hot guy I had befriended was in love with someone so gorgeous. My slim waist had nothing on her model-thin midsection. My straight black hair looked like a frazzled mess compared to her glossy brown curls. My freckly skin was merely that of a grade school child next to her aesthetic olive toned complexion.

"I bet she'd love to meet you," Bonnie said, distractedly, watching Damon's back suspiciously.

"Cool," I said, actually meaning it. Just because I was ridiculously jealous of Damon's feelings toward her didn't mean I wasn't going to give her a chance to be my friend.

The parade went by surprisingly quickly, and Bonnie was soon tugging on my wrist, guiding me down the high school halls. "Come on, she's this way!"

I just laughed and followed her. We turned a corner to see Elena and Stefan, walking hand-in-hand in our direction.

"Elena, there you are," Bonnie said on a sigh. "This is Kaila. She's new."

Elena's face brightened and she gave me a bright smile, holding her hand out to me. "Hi, its nice to meet you. I'm Elena Gilbert."

I shook her hand.

"I'm Stefan Salvatore," said the bronze-haired, friendly brother of possibly the most sarcastic person I had ever met.

I shook his hand as well. "Kaila Stevens. I've met your brother."

His expression instantly fell. His eyes darted to Bonnie, who I saw shake her head out of the corner of my eye. Then he gave me a controlled smile, though I could see the alarm in his eyes. "Well, I hope he didn't give you too much trouble."

I shook my head. "Oh, no. He was perfectly nice."

Elena looked confused and Stefan cocked a brow at me.

"Well, lets go and enjoy the festivities, shall we?" Bonnie asked in the awkward silence, gesturing down the hall.

* * *

**Once again, not the best, but I promise, they do get better. Just hang in there. I love you all! Thank you for reading and reviewing! :)**


	3. Nature Art

KAILA'S POV:

It had been about a week since I moved here. A week since I met Damon and Stefan Salvatore. A week since I met my best friends Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena. In a week, I had grown close to each of them, closer than I had ever been with any of my foster parents. They had come to be my family.

But still, I felt like they were keeping some big secret from me. Not just some petty third grade secret, either. If what I was feeling was right, this was some major shit. Like life and death. They were keeping something from me. I could tell by the way they hushed down what seemed like a very tense conversation when I walked up to them. The way they seemed to disappear right before something horrific happened.

I was determined to find out what it was, but I didn't exactly know how to approach the subject. Somehow I didn't think it would be appropriate to randomly bombard their conversation and say, "Hey, guys, just wondering what crazy heavy secret you guys were keeping from me because I'm a stubborn ass and refuse to keep my nose out of places it doesn't belong." No, that didn't seem right.

So I decided on tricking Damon into telling me. Of course, it probably wouldn't work (being as he is the master of cunning and wit) but if he caught onto my conniving, maybe I would just be able to get it out of him truthfully. Out of all of my friends here in Mystic Falls, I felt like I could trust him more. He seemed ready to tell me the truth more than the others. Perhaps it was the moment we had shared on that park bench the night of my arrival (we never really spoke of it, but the memory of each of our weaknesses hung silent between us, unseen by others, but unforgettable for us), or perhaps it was just my pathetic attraction to him. In any case, I was going for Damon.

So that day at school, I waited at the table outside by the trees that Damon always seemed to meet me at when lunch rolled around. I had started coming out here on my first real day of classes, munching on my pudding cup and bagel as I sketched the trees in front of me, or any other object around me that I deemed interesting.

I flipped the top few pages of my sketch pad over the top and sighed at the half-finished tree picture. It was coming along nicely, the etches in the bark highlighted by deeper scratches from my pencil and a lighter-colored marking of a pointy heart with "BW+KR" carved into it. I took one more spoonful of pudding before swiping my bangs out of my face to get a better view of the tree.

"Hey, there," I heard a familiar cocky voice say as a tall body slid onto the tabletop beside me.

"Damon," I greeted, using the edge of my pencil to shade the area where the leaves cast a long shadow on the trunk.

"Still drawing that thing? Its dying, why draw that one?"

I frowned down at the paper. I saw it as full of life, sustaining and symbolizing. "Its got character."

"Yeah," he grumbled, laying on his back on the table, "the character of a dead tree."

I finished sketching in the last few marks on the bark and turned around to see him eating my pudding. I frowned at him and snatched it back. "Thief," I muttered, as he glared at me, spoon still in his mouth. "So, I was thinking," I started, ripping small pieces off my bagel. I was suddenly nervous. Which was ridiculous! This was just reconnaissance, nothing more. "You wanna hang out after school today or something?" I kept my eyes on the bagel in front of me, but I could feel his electric blue gaze glued to the side of my face.

"Yeah, sure," he said, nonchalantly. But there was an undercurrent I was unfamiliar with in his voice. I was too focused right now to linger on that though.

"Alright," I said, beginning to rip a small corner off of a piece of paper from my notebook. I quickly jotted down my address and handed it to him. "Here's my address. How about five o'clock?" I could finally look at him now.

He had a hand under his head and was staring up into the canopy of tree leaves above. He held his hand out for the piece of paper, eyes locked on the sky. I grinned, but tried (unsuccessfully) to hide it, and placed it in his hand. He absently slipped it into his front pocket.

After a silent moment of awkwardness, I sighed and said, "Well, I'd better go find Bonnie. She's helping me with my Chemistry homework." He merely grunted as I walked away. I stopped a few feet away to glance back at him, but he was gone along with any evidence that he had been there.

Oo0oO

"Bye, see you guys Monday," I said, smiling at Bonnie and Elena as I started to walk back in the direction of my house. I had an hour and a half alone (absentee foster parents were sometimes convenient) before Damon showed up, so I distracted myself by pulling out my fold-away easel and setting it up in the back yard.

Nuka was yipping happily as she bounded around in the green grass. I chuckled and got to work painting the garden Julia had planted. Her green thumb was one of the few things I admired about her.

I didn't understand how two people so open to adoption could adopt me and then completely ignore me. Sure they gave me the basic necessities along with a fully furnished room, but really, they never spoke to me other than to ask me to do the dishes or call me down to dinner. All I really wanted was for a little bit of company in this big, empty house. They were always at work it seemed. Today I would have company, though.

My thoughts on Julia and Jack had made me a bit angry, so my painting was leaning more towards shadows and an overall nightmarish version of the colorful garden before me. I pulled back, cocking my head to the side and shrugged. It looked good that way. Darkness creeping over the petals of the tulips, unknown entities climbing in the morning glory, a veiling mist slinking along the ground among the dahlia stems.

I had lost so much track of time with painting the Gothic Garden that I almost didn't hear the knock at the door.

"Oh crap," I murmured as I checked my watch, saw that it was indeed five o'clock, and inspected the deep paint stains all over my clothes. I had long ago pulled my hair back and my hand was coated in paint more than the rest of my body. I quickly set the brush down on the tray and rushed through the back door into the kitchen. "Just a second!" I called to the door as a second knock came.

I grabbed a hand towel and wet my hands down, trying to scrape some of the paint off. I gave up when only a few small chips came off and made my way frantically down the hall to the front door. I yanked the door open, sure my hair was all over the place and I looked ridiculous.

Damon tried, with difficulty, to conceal his grin. "Painting are we?"

I nodded and waved a hand, indicating for him to come in, but he remained outside. "What are you waiting for?" I asked, smirking at him.

He leaned against the doorjamb. "For you to invite me in."

I rolled my eyes with a chuckle. "What are you, a vampire?"

He cocked a brow at me. "Yes."

I rolled my eyes again and started to walk down the hall, waving a hand to him over my shoulder, trying to get him to follow me. But I heard no footsteps behind me. I turned back to him, exasperated. "Damon, would you please get in the damn house?"

He sighed in relief and crossed the threshold, closing the door behind him. "Thank you!" he said, holding his hands up, as though he had waited years for it.

I grinned and led him into the kitchen. "So, you want something to eat? Drink?" I asked.

He sat at one of the stools pulled up to the island. "Whiskey if you have any. Juice box if not."

I had to hold in a giggle at the mental image of Damon sipping from a juice box. I turned to Jack's liquor cabinet and opened it up, using the key I knew he kept in the back of the cupboard over the microwave. "Merry Christmas," I said, waving a hand around in front of the army of alcohol.

He smirked and moved forward, selecting a bottle. "Your dad wont mind?" he asked, popping the top.

"Jack," I said, emphasizing his name. That impassive man was not my father. "won't be home until midnight if I know anything at all. Julia will be even longer."

He took a long, slow drink. "So can I see what you were painting?"

I hesitated.

"Ooh, is it a secret?" he asked, suddenly interested as he used one elbow to lean back again the counter, facing me.

"You're one to talk about secrets," I accused, narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms.

He continued, unabashed. "I know most artists do nude portraits at some time or another in their life, but really, if you wanted me to model for you, you could've just asked. You didn't have to strain your limited imagination for it."

As always, Damon was good at deflecting the attention from his own shortcomings by bringing up ridiculous false scenarios that displayed several of your own.

"There is nothing wrong with my imagination! And I did not- Wait, no! This is about you."

"Is that it out there?" he asked, glancing out of the window to the backyard. He set his glass down and started to move toward the door.

I ran ahead of him, standing in the doorway before he could exit the house. I had made it just in time and I put our bodies rather close, which kind of scrambled my brain. And everything sensible in me told me that he knew it. "How about we make a deal?" I asked quietly, my voice coming out unevenly.

His eyes brightened. "This should be interesting."

"I'll let you see my painting," I said hesitantly; I didn't usually like for people to see what I painted. "If you tell me what is going on with you. You're hiding something. You all are. Something big."

He shrugged. "Fine, I'll tell you. I was going to anyway, but now I get to see your painting."

He grinned at me and brushed me aside as I gaped disbelievingly at him.

* * *

**Here we go. Thanks for reading and please review! :) **


	4. Crossing The Threshold

DAMON'S POV:

I stood back a bit, my gaze sliding around on the canvas, dark colors mingling dramatically with the brightly-colored plants.

"Wow," I muttered to myself. I had known she could sketch ridiculously good, but this painting was so realistic and it was mostly from her imagination, with the base being the scene in front of her.

"I know, its not that great, but-"

"Its amazing," I said, looking down at her as she subconsciously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, blushing. "I want it," I said suddenly.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"I want it," I repeated. "How much do you want for it?" I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket.

She shook her head, but she was obviously proud of her work. "If you really want it, you can have it. You don't have to pay me for it."

"But you deserve it," I said, pushing forty dollars into her hand.

She pushed back. "Damon, really, I refuse to take your money. Think of it as a gift."

I sighed and put my money back.

"Well, its still gotta dry," she mumbled. "But I should probably do this." She picked up her paint brush. It seemed to fit so easily in her hand, like a missing puzzle piece that brought the bigger picture into better light, to magnify her and illuminate her beauty. She dunked the brush into black paint and began making some light strokes in the bottom corner, making some odd-looking scribbles. A signature. And she put the date under it. "There," she nodded her head at it. After snapping a quick picture of it on her phone, we headed back inside and out of the darkness.

KAILA'S POV:

We went into the living room and sat on the couch. I turned the TV on, more for background noise than anything else.

"So are you going to tell me the secret now?" I asked, turning toward him.

He turned toward me as well, his arm along the back of the couch. His eyes were boring into mine, seeming to search and prepare me. Then, finally, he said flatly, "I'm a vampire."

It took a second for my face to react, but my brain was screaming, "That's ridiculous!" the second it had come out of his mouth. However, my heart beat increased at his seriousness. I chuckled. "C'mon, Damon, seriously. You can trust me."

He didn't waver. "I'm a vampire, Kaila."

This time, I felt too nervous (and a little scared) to do any chuckling. I just stared at him, my breathing becoming irregular.

He blinked a few times before his eyes turned a deep, dark red color that flooded the whites, and black veins popped out from under his skin, worming away from his eyes.

My breath caught and I seemed to be frozen, every muscle tensed and locked into place. Vampire? The word felt odd drifting through my thoughts now.

He blinked a few more times and his eyes were back to their original, bright blue color, devoid of creepy veins. I had to admit that, though it scared the hell out of me, there was something oddly alluring about the strange way his eyes had transformed.

When it finally fully sank into my numb mind, I was only able to scamper backwards and fall off the couch, turning and running for the door. I had to get out. There was a monster in here and I was with it. But it was Damon. Surely he wouldn't hurt me. Would he? I didn't stop to think about it.

In a flash, a blur of movement, Damon was standing in front of me, a sarcastically bored expression on his face.

I screamed in surprise and tried to push against him, but he grabbed my wrists and held them tight. "What do you want?" I asked, my eyes stinging with tears of fright.

He shook his head, tossing an eye roll in for good measure. "I don't want anything. What is it with you humans? That's always the first thing you ask."

I watched him suspiciously, my breathing still coming hard.

"I knew this wasn't going to work," he sighed, almost sounding disappointed. He frowned, looking me in the eyes. His pupils did something weird, growing bigger and then shrinking back down to size over and over again. I was oddly captivated by it. "You'll remember nothing of what I told you. You wont remember that there is anything weird going on with any of your friends." He sighed. "You wont remember me." He let go of my hands and looked away.

I furrowed my brows at him. "Damon, what the hell are you talking about?"

His head snapped up, confusion clear in his eyes. Then understanding crossed over his face. "Vervain." As if that explained everything.

"What?" I asked, still confused and a little pissed off now that the fear had worn off.

He moved toward me, but I quickly flinched back. Hurt speared through his eyes before he replaced it with a cool collectiveness. "It keeps me from compelling you."

I was so lost, but I tried not to linger on it for too long. "You should go," I said quietly, tears in my voice.

Damon, one of my best friends, was a vampire. He didn't try to argue. Just disappeared. The second I looked up, no one was with me in my living room anymore.

I shivered, tears pooled in my lower lid. I rubbed my arms and let out a sigh, locking all of my doors before trudging up the stairs to my room and burying my face in Nuka's soft fur as I fell asleep. Unfortunately, vampires followed me there.

DAMON'S POV:

I had taken the picture she had given me and left the forty dollars on the edge of the easel.

After a while, when I was sure she would be asleep, I entered her bedroom window. She was snoring softly, her face rested on the dark coat of her dog, Nuka. Both were sleeping.

On her right ring finger, I saw a thin silver ring. I had noticed it before, but I guess I never really thought beyond the jewelry usage of it. If I leaned closer to her hand, I could smell it, the spicy cold burn of it. I pulled back, blinking my eyes rapidly.

I watched the smooth, relaxation on her face. "Damn it," I breathed.

As the past week unfolded, I found myself dreaming of Elena less and less (much to both her and Stefan's pleasure), and more about Kaila. I was finally in love with someone who wasn't my brother's girl. That wasn't necessarily a good thing. With Katherine on the loose again, Kaila could be in danger. There was no way Katherine wouldn't find out about my feelings for her. That just wasn't the way things worked.

I brushed a finger along her forehead, moving her bangs away from her face. She crinkled her nose when the tips of her hair swept along it. I smirked, but not the mean sarcastic smirk I was known for. This was a smirk of true adoration.

* * *

**Aww! Review! Thank you for reading! :D **


	5. Bookstore Recon

KAILA'S POV:

When I woke up in the morning, Jack was home and Julia was at work.

I quietly descended the stairs, trying to forget about my night with Damon. "No work today?" I asked, grabbing a box of cereal.

Jack shook his head, glasses hanging on the end of his nose as he stared blandly at the newspaper. "Not for me. What are you doing today?"

His sudden interest in my personal life was shocking. Even more shocking was the fact that he had set his newspaper down and taken his glasses off as he asked. Paying attention to me? Odd…

I faltered in pouring my milk, glad that my back was turned so he couldn't see my reaction, and didn't raise my head an inch. "I don't know. I might just paint." I turned around, crunching down on a spoonful of Lucky Charms.

"Ah, yeah, your easel is out in the backyard," he mentioned, sipping on his coffee.

"Oh, right, I forgot about that."

"If you don't feel like doing that, and being all alone today," he said slowly. "Maybe we could go do something. Just us."

"And leave Julia out of all the festivities?"

He ignored the bite in my question. "Well, she's got work today, so yeah. Just us. What do you say? We'll do whatever you want to. I noticed you have a lot of books. You want to maybe go to the bookstore?"

He honestly seemed to be trying to make an effort in getting involved with my life, and I felt bad deflecting him so coldly before. So I hesitated, spoon hovering above my cereal bowl. "Sure. Okay. Yeah, I'll just finish eating, bring my easel in, and then get ready, I guess."

He nodded with a smile. "Alright then."

I rinsed my bowl out and went out into the backyard to fold my easel up.

"This week is getting weirder and weirder," I mumbled to myself, putting a hand to the wooden slats. But something on the bottom of the easel caught my eye. Two twenty dollar bills. "Damn it, Damon," I said softly, unable to keep the guilt out of my voice.

I had treated him like a monster, avoided his touch like the plague, and he had been nice enough to leave forty dollars for the painting I had insisted he take free of charge. I needed to call him later.

After putting my art supplies away and getting ready to leave, I got into Jack's car. "So where is the bookstore?" he asked, looking around the streets.

"You've lived here for a week now and you still don't know where everything is? The town's really not that big," I joked.

He shrugged. "Well, work hasn't exactly left me with much free-time to cruise around Mystic Falls, you ought to know that."

I cleared my throat awkwardly and said, "Next left."

He followed my instructions and pulled up in front of an old, brown wooden building with "Brookshire's Books" painted in the window. It was very old-time-looking.

Jack hesitated outside the door, looking uncertainly around the book shop door.

"You don't have to come in if you don't want to. You can wait out here, I wont be long."

He looked around and then nodded. "Yeah, alright. I'll be out here."

I opened the door, making the bell overhead ding. The worker behind the counter waved and gave me a pleasant smile.

I made my way to the young adults section and searched for the third Mortal Instruments book, trailing my fingers along the spines of the books in front of me. "City of Glass," I murmured to myself before picking the correct book off the shelf with a successful grin.

"I hope that one day you'll come to realize, just how perfect you are when seen through my eyes," said a low, familiar voice to my left.

I jumped, clutching my book to my chest as my heart reacted spasmodically to his voice.

Damon was standing there, leaning against the end of the bookcase, an open poem book in his hands. His head was tilted down, but he was looking up at me through his thick lashes, his signature smirk plastered across his mouth.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered when my breathing returned to a normal pace.

He shrugged and placed the book back on the shelf. "Browsing. Reciting poetry. Scaring teenage girls. What about you?"

"Getting a book," I replied shortly, not looking up at him when he moved closer.

"C'mon, Kaila. Talk to me." He stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the bookcase.

I just watched him. Honestly, I couldn't see anything different about him. He still seemed to be the same Damon. "You have got a lot of questions to answer," I warned him, poking a finger to his chest.

He nodded, for once completely serious. "I know."

I sighed and said, "I'm here with Jack. He's outside now."

He nodded and walked behind me as I paid for my book.

I turned toward the door. Through the glass, I could see Jack and-

"Elena?" I said, cocking my head.

Damon sucked in air and grabbed my wrist, dragging me behind one of the bookcases, hiding us from sight.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, aware of the cashier's wary eyes on us.

"That's not Elena," he explained, trying to peek through the spaces between the books.

I ignored the warmth of his arms on either side of me and managed to get out, "What are you talking about? Of course that's Elena! I saw her."

He lowered his gaze to me, staring intensely into my eyes. "No. Its not."

I had to believe that grave tone. "Who is it then?"

"Her name is Katherine." He went back to looking out of the bookcase. His face went blank as his eyes searched around.

"What? What is it?" I tried turning, but Damon was still holding me back against the bookshelf.

"They're gone." He grabbed my wrist again and pulled me out of the store, stopping at the curb and looking up and down the street.

"Where did they go?"

He didn't answer me, only tugged me with him around the corner of the building, down the alley between the bookshop and the barber's building. Behind a wooden fence I could hear sounds of struggle.

Damon released my wrist and mouthed the words "Stay here."

I could do nothing but obey, frozen with shock. Just what was going on behind that fence?

Damon moved forward with incredible speed, seeming to blur as he moved. He peered through a crack between the wooden planks and just watched for a moment. Then, he spun and ran toward me, grabbing my wrist again. "Gotta get out of here," Damon murmured, pulling me back down the street, away from Jack's car.

"Where are we going?"

He looked down at me with a speculative frown. "Just come with me, huh?"

I nodded. It didn't seem like I really had any choice in the matter.

Then he stopped in his tracks. "Damn it," he breathed. "Kaila," he said in a quiet voice, still looking straight ahead. "This may or may not work, but I want you to know that if it does, it may just save your life."

Without giving me any time to answer his odd request, he leaned down to me and pushed me onto a bench sitting on the concrete. Without wasting any time, he sat down beside me as well and threw his arm around my shoulders, drawing me closer to him so he could kiss me.

His lips were soft, burning through all of my coherent thoughts. I didn't remember that Jack and this Katherine person were even existent. All I could think of was the way Damon's mouth molded to my own, the way his hands held me, the way he touched me so softly - as though I was very fragile. I had to remind myself that he was a vampire, so to him, I probably was.

Then, too soon for me, he pulled back and looked behind us at the bookstore. Nothing was there.

"She's gone," he whispered, standing and pulling me up with him.

I stumbled a bit when my foot hit the leg of the bench, but Damon caught me, a large smirk gracing his features. "Did my kissing skills really muddle your brain that much?"

I scowled at him and stood upright.

"We have to get out of here," he said, frowning back at the bookstore.

"But what about Jack? Shouldn't I at least tell him I'm leaving? Won't he be worried?"

He didn't answer me, just pulled my hand until I was standing at the door of his car. I just stared at him. He rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Well, get in."

I hesitantly obeyed. He got in on the other side faster than I would have thought possible. We were off and speeding through windy roads lined with trees in no time.

"Damon, what about Jack? We cant just leave him there without letting him know where I am."

Damon looked down at me, a troubled look in his eyes. "Kaila, Jack's dead."

* * *

**DUN DUN DUUUUNNN! There's another chapter for you! Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D And will someone puh-lease check out my Matrix fic called Anomaly?! I will love you forever! **


	6. Catching Up

KAILA'S POV:

My ears were ringing and I was beyond even trying to speak as Damon pulled me out of the car.

He seemed to understand that my legs wouldn't listen to me because he lifted me into his arms, holding me firmly as we walked up to a large house. It was bigger than any house I had even thought about seeing (I had always known Damon and Stefan had money, but wow), though I was numb to the shock of thinking about it.

Jack was dead? It didn't seem right… I had seen him only a few minutes before his supposed death. I had been through at least 5 foster families by now, all of which had been taken by a very untimely demise. So why was Jack's death, Jack who had never really been too close to me… Why was it hitting me so hard? Perhaps because his death was unexplained? Perhaps because he had finally been attempting to bond with me? And perhaps because I had seen Jack perfectly fine and healthy, _alive_, only a few minutes before he had died.

"What happened?" I vaguely recognized Stefan's voice.

"Kaila?!" came Elena's voice, high with panic and worry.

"Her foster dad. It was Katherine."

At the mention of the Elena-look-alike, both Stefan and Elena paled, turning terror-filled eyes on Damon.

I just kept staring straight, looking past Elena and Stefan down the hall filled with what looked like memorabilia from other time periods. I wondered detachedly whether Damon and Stefan had collected all these things personally, having lived through the time when such artifacts were commonplace.

I didn't realize I had been crying until Elena ran a finger under my eye and pulled her hand, now shimmering with a slight wetness at the fingertip, away.

I gazed at it uncomprehendingly as the others continued their conversation. "-just because she knows Kaila's close to us. Give her vervain. That should protect her where we cant."

"That's the thing," Damon said, setting me gently on the couch - had we really already made it to the living room? "she's already got it."

Stefan narrowed his eyes at his brother. "How long ago did you give it to her?"

Damon shook his head. "I didn't."

Three pairs of curious eyes turned to fall on me.

"What?" I asked, my voice slightly hoarse.

"Where?" Stefan asked, without taking his eyes from my face.

Damon replied in the same chopped, distracted tone, "The ring."

The eyes fell to my hand. I cradled it to my chest. My mom's ring? What did they want with it? It was just some old engagement ring from my biological parents.

Stefan took a step forward and slowly, as though not to frighten me, kneeled down beside the couch in front of me.

"Don't you think I know vervain when I smell it? I even tried compelling her!"

Stefan didn't listen to whatever Damon was talking about this time, and simply grabbed my right hand, inspecting the ring around my ring finger. He tapped it and quickly withdrew, as though the trinket had burned him.

I remembered something through a murky fog about something called vervain… something Damon had said what seemed like years ago now.

"Vervain," I said aloud, testing the word on my tongue. "Didn't you say it was what kept you from… compelling me?"

Damon nodded, jaw set tight.

I raised a hands to my head and rubbed my temples. "Would somebody please explain everything to me? I'm so sick of all the lying and I just lost my foster parent and I want to know what you are all talking about."

The three of them glanced awkwardly around at each other. I sensed the discomfort, but I wasn't about to let them out of this. Someone I knew had just died by the hands of someone who looked like my best friend. I think there was some rightful explaining to be done.

It was Damon who eventually stepped forward and sat down beside me. "A long time ago… Back when Stefan and I were… human… we met a girl named Katherine. We knew what she was, a vampire, but we both still loved her anyway. Eventually, we told Katherine she would have to make the choice between us. She chose us both and turned us. Stefan thought that she had died a long time ago, in a fire started by those who had discovered her secret. But I knew they weren't really burned. The vampires corralled into the church were imprisoned inside, protected, but starving. Katherine found a way out a long time ago. But she's been keeping her freedom under wraps for the past few centuries. And she just happened to stop by in town when she caught my scent around your house. She most likely followed you and that's how she found Jack."

I was surprisingly able to keep up with all this new information, though my head was spinning wildly. "But if she followed me, why did she kill Jack and not me?"

Damon averted his eyes, sighing uncomfortably. "Because we think she wants to toy with you. She thinks of this as a game. Because we care about you, she will use that to her advantage. She is going to try to hurt you and the people around you, Kaila." He grabbed my hand and looked me straight in the eye.

It was like we were having a normal conversation (sans the hand-holding) but the look in his eyes, the protective fierceness, was too passionate, too private that to let Stefan and Elena stand here and look on felt almost like public indecency. All of my walls were down, as well as all of his, just as they were that night in the park.

"Promise me you will be careful," he said, his tone grave.

I nodded. "I will."

I didn't know what he meant by "careful". If there was a vampire out to get me, the best I could hope for was that either all the myths about vampires were true, or that she came across someone else she liked more (preferably someone in another galaxy).

"How long until the police find the body?" Stefan asked as Damon stood from the couch, dropping my hand. His voice sounded like it was coming from very far away.

Damon shrugged. "She left the body in a fenced-off alleyway beside the bookshop. It could be quite a while before anyone besides his wife realizes what happened."

I was suddenly very tired, ridiculously so. My eyelids were heavy and my head seemed to weigh ten pounds.

Their voices were becoming indistinct chattering, low-pitched and nearly a hum.

Elena noticed my sleepiness and moved around Damon to sit on the couch next to me. She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and began stroking my hair, an oddly comforting gesture.

The last thing I remember before the exhaustion became insurmountable was Damon, lowering his eyes to watch my eyes drift closed, Stefan's tense, worried face beside him.

* * *

**And that is all that I have prepared ahead of time. The rest I will be writing and posting soon. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D **


	7. Problem Solving

I woke up to silence. No one else was around. I sat up groggily. I was still on the couch. I cast a glance around the room.

It was a large living room to say the least. There were two or three couches centered around a blazing fire, a table behind one of them was stocked with bottles of every liquor I could possibly think of. Books and knicknacks lined the walls alog with paintings and tapestries. It was like being in a meuseum where everything was red or gold.

"Before you ask, yes that is all real, and yes we did collect all of those personally."

I looked up to see Stefan smirking good naturedly at me from the other couch. I hadn't even heard him enter the room. However, from the human conception of entering a room, he probably hadn't.

He noticed my wary glances.

I tried, really tried hard, to find little differences in Stefan that I hadn't noticed before. I found none and sighed. Now that I knew the secret of the Salvatores, I really wanted to hate them. To be disgusted by the whole thing so I could just run away screaming and maybe be safe again. But I just couldn't. They were still the same asshole Damon, and the same friendly (if somewhat mysterious) Stefan.

"How are you feeling?" he asked with geniune concern.

I shrugged. "I don't know. My body still hasn't caught up with my mind. I'm not sure what normal is anymore, much less normal reactons."

He shook his head, looking down. "You actually took all of it pretty well. You reaction is far from normal." He didn't say it like it was a bad thing.

"Normal's boring anyway," came a lazy, deep voice.

I looked up to see Damon sauntering into the living room, an empty glass in his hand. Elena entered after him, looking a bit annoyed. That wasn't very unusual. Damon tended to have that effect on people when he wasn't charming his way out of the consequences of such endeavors to get on peoples' nerves.

Elena took a seat on the couch beside where Stefan was leaning against it.

"So what happens now?" I asked quietly. "We just wait forthe police to find him?"

Stefan and Damon shook their heads at the same time but it was Damon who spoke. "No, that leaves too many holes. You were there with him, they'll find that out somehow. You have to be the one to call their attention to it. If you do, you're safe from harm. At least by them. If you don't and they find him first, they'll be suspicious about you fleeing the scene."

"Then why did you bring her here instead of leaving her there?" Stefan murmured.

Damon faltered in his whiskey-pouring. Why _had_ he grabbed me up and taken me with him? "Spur of the moment decision," he finally mumbled. After filling his glass, he plopped carefree onto the couch beside me, miraculously not spilling his drink. Vampire balance I guess.

"Shouldn't you take her back, then, if that's your expert opinion?" Elena asked, crossing her arms.

Damon gave her a long look, holding his glass up and spreading his arms wide. "I just got comfy. Stefan its your turn to take care of our little damsel."

I grimaced at him. I didn't like feeling so helpless.

Elena threw him a look of barely concealed frustration. "I'll go with you," she offered, taking Stefan's hand.

Suddenly the truth of what had happened dawned on me. I felt tight pressure building around my eyes. Jack was dead, it was probably my fault, and now there was a psychotic vampire after me.

Elena noted the panic in my eyes and said, "If you want me to, I'll stay with you tonight."

Damon snorted. "What could you do to protect her from a vampire as dangerous as Katherine?"

"Its called emotional support, Damon, something I'm sure you've never heard of."

"Thank you," I said, nodding to Elena.

"I'll go get the car," Stefan said, standing and heading for the door.

Elena stood and threw a hard glance at Damon, then looked pointedly down at me. "I'll go with him." Damon shook his head the smallest bit, but I almost didn't catch it.

Just what was going on between them? I knew they bickered a lot, but this seemed like more than that. "_Probably just Damon still vying for Elena's love,_" I thought sadly.

I heard a soft click, indicating that Damon and I were now alone. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. "Thank you."

He looked up at me. "For what?"

I shrugged, unable to bring myself to look into his eyes. Those bright blue eyes that last night (could it have only been last night?) had transformed into something dangerous, but beautiful in its own respect. "You probably saved my life earlier. So thanks." Remembering just how he had saved my life brought a blush to my cheeks.

"Too bad I wasn't in time for good ol' Jack, though."

I flinched at his sarcastic tone. I didn't understand why he had to be like that with everything. But I supposed some people just dealt with things differently than others. Unfortunately enough, the person I chose to spend my time with dealt wih things by being a total ass.

I couldn't really hold it against him, though. I could tell without him having to tell me aloud that some of the things that happened to him in his life had really had a negative impact on him.

I wanted to ask him what all that silent business with Elena had been about but I was having trouble finding the words.

He seemed to interpret my silence in a different way and reworded his previous statement. "You're welcome." He patted the top of my hand.

I was still gaping openly at him, marveling at his sudden sincerity when he stood and left the room. I couldn't help the shiver that wormed its way slowly down my backbone when he stopped in the doorway and met my eyes over his shoulder, only for a moment, befre continuing on out of view.

Elena reentering the room yanked me out of my petty thoughts about Damon's gorgeously built body. "You ready?"

I nodded up at her and allowed her to help me out to the car.

Oo0oO

Julia still wasn't home when we got to my house. Stefan stuck around for a little while, but after I phoned the police, putting on hysterics without really needing to try much, he left.

I told them that I was at the bookstore with Jack and when I came out and he wasn't there, I looked for him and finally found his body in the fenced-off alley beside the bookstore. They told me officers would be arriving on the scene shortly and they would let Julia know.

Julia arrived home before the police did. Her short blond hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, a way I had never seen it before. She barely ever showed emotion, and though her face was hard and let no indicator of her feelings through, tear stains were visible on her tanned cheeks.

I rushed to her, somehow sure that, though we had never really been that close, my hug would be accepted with relief. She sobbed into my hair. I couldn't cry again.

I had gone through five other fostser parents, each of whom died some strange, unexpected death. But it had always been in pairs. They had never died off one and not the other like this before. I had never thought much about these deaths, just blamed it on my own bad luck.

Maybe having been exposed to the mystifying truth of vampires was making me a bit paranoid. I mean, if vampires existed, who was to say there weren't other things like werewolves and fairies and elves? Now I was imagining all of those mystical creatures setting fire to the Smiths' house and starting that electrical storm that took the Jones'. But that was ridiculous.

I let go of Julia and Elena helped me to escort her to the couch. It was a long night, full of being questioned by the police and I'm sure we went through about three boxes of Kleenx. All on Julia.

I didn't cry anymore. Jack had been Julia's. I would let her handle the grief. Someone had to keep calm. However Elena did a good job of keeping the peace between Julia and the police.

Finally the officers exited the house and Julia mumbled something about being tired and slumped up the stairs. I stared after her worriedly.

Elena put a comforting hand on my arm. "I know what its like to lose a parent. I lost both of mine."

I turned to her. I had known that both of her parents had died, but she didn't like to talk about it much. "I've gone through five couples other than my biological parents. This is my sixth. Every other couple died. Randomly. I was never very close to any of them. Somehow this one seems worse."

She shook her head in sympathy. We fell asleep on the couch soon after Julia left. We were both exhausted.


	8. Visitor at the Window

I woke up around midnight with Elena's elbow in my mouth. I shifted her around so we weren't quite so tangled. I tried unhooking my leg from hers without pushing her off the couch or waking her up. I finally got it detatched and gave a triumphant smile.

But as I began to stand from the couch, it occurred to me that my foot was stuck between the back of the couch and the cushion. It didn't occur to me fast enough, though. I fell with a dull thud to the floor.

Elena made a goofy sleep-snort and rolled over, but otherwise showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. I stood with a huff, straightening my shirt.

I started to ascend the stairs, planning on changing into something like pajama pants so my jeans didnt dig into my skin while I slept. I eased the bedroom door open, trying to avoid its customary creaking. Julia needed all the rest she could get.

After turning the light on and locating my red fuzzy Mickey Mouse PJ pants, I began to change. It wasn't until I had tied the red ribon drawstring on the pants that I heard the quiet tapping on my bedroom window.

I stiffened, my first thoughts of Katherine. I narrowed my eyes in confusion at the window when the tapping became more impatient.

"Kaila, Jesus, will you let me in?"

I sighed, recognizing the voice. I rushed over to the door, throwing it open and ignoring the blast of wintry air that blew in. "Damon, what the hell are you doing out there? Get inside, hurry," I hissed.

He obeyed, his outline blurring and disappearing. If I hadn't barely felt his jacket brush quickly past me, I would've thought that he had fallen out of the tree.

I shut the window and locked it (though I was sure window locks were nothing to anything malevolent that mught be out there looking for me).

"Well," Damon started. "I figured I'd knock instead of just coming in and giving you a heart attack."

I smacked him in the shoulder. "You still nearly gave me a heart attack. Now seriously, what are you doing here?"

I expected him to come back with another wry joke, but his blue eyes became serious and his jaw line hardened. He took a second before whispering, "How are you?"

I sighed, letting my legs buckle like they had been wanting to since earlier this morning, sitting on the bed. "Better than Julia."

Damon took a hesitant seat next to me on my bed.

"You'd think I'd be used to this by now, you know?"

"How so?" He asked quietly.

I looked up. It finally occurred to me that I was like Elena in that respect. Neither of us ever really talked about our parents (or in my case foster parents). I related the whole story to him.

"The sad thing is I don't even know how my real parents died. They just kind of... Weren't there. The police thought I was too young at the time, so they just told me my parents had died. When I got older, I didn't ask because I didn't really want to know. Knowing how it happened just made it seem more real. I used to have this crazy idea that my real parents would come in and take me back and say it was all just a misunderstanding. Now... I almost want to know..."

I looked up then. I had nearly forgotten that I was talking to Damon. I had almost been telling the story to myself.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, laying a hand on my shoulder.

I was surprised at him. "You know, that's twice in one day that you've been sincere about something."

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "As if," he pointed to the clock on my nightstand. 12:17. "That's only once a day."

I frowned. Something got through to me then. "How long before I let you in were you out there?"

He threw me a wicked smirk, raising his eyebrows. "Lace, huh?"

My eyes widened and blood rushed to my cheeks. "Tell me you're joking."

He shrugged. "I'm joking."

I closed my eyes and sighed. "I'm going to pretend you really mean that."

His hands were suddenly on both of my shoulders, squeezing them gently and releasing them and repeating the process. "You're stressing too much," he mumbled.

I opened my eyes. Damon was no longer beside me, but kneeling behind me. "Damon, are you hitting on me?"

I almost wanted him to say yes. But I knew that wouldn't happen. The girl he loved was downstairs sleeping on my couch.

"Just being a good friend. And friends don't let friends wallow in tension."

I rolled my eyes, trying not to let him know how good his hands felt on my shoulders. I bit my lip, caught between the urge to let him know how I felt about him and the embarassment of such an occurance. Instead, I brought my hand up to my shoulder to touch his hand lightly. "Thank yo-"

"Ow!" His hands jerked away.

I hopped up from the bed, startled. He was clutching his hand to his chest. I glanced down at my hand in understanding. My ring had burned him. "Damon, I'`m sorry. Are you alright?" I rushed over to him, taking his hand and being careful not to let my ring come in contact with his skin.

Streaked across the top of his hand was a long jagged red mark. "It wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't pulled away so quickly," I fussed. But even as my hands fluttered uselessly around his scarred flesh, the redness was evaporating.

"How-?" I looked up at him in wonder.

"Vampire, remember?" He gave me another smirk.

I nodded. "Right." It was easy to forget, especially when I was looking into his perfctly human eyes, or could feel his 100% human skin.

His hand closed around my finers. "You can't forget what I am, Kaila. That's a deadly mistake. One I don't want you to make."

"Why are you like this with me and so different with everyone else?" I found myself blurting it out before I could stop myself.

His grip on my hand loosened a bit. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but shook his head and closed it again before saying, "You're my best friend, believe it or not."

I was opening my mouth to say something, but it was interrupted by a yawn.

"I'll get out of your hair and let you get some sleep."

I shook my head as he dropped my hand. "You don't have to go."

He cocked a brow at me. "You're about to fall asleep on your feet."

I shook my head sitting back down on the bed. "I just don't want to be alone right now," I cast a glance at the window, where the wind was making the tree branches tap incessantly at the glass.

He didn't bother mentioning that Elena and Julia were both here. He considered for a moment then nodded, sitting down on the other side of the bed.

I leaned back against the pillows. "Just... Talk to me until I fall asleep, okay?"

He made a face, leaning back with me. "Well, what do you want to talk about?"

I shrugged, another yawn breaking out. "Tell me about where you grew up."

He sighed. "You already know all about where I grew up. They teach it to you in history, unless Alaric is as useless as I think he is. But if you really want it from the point of view of someone who lived through it-"

I didn't get to hear about his childhood. I fell asleep in the middle of his pre-story rant.

DAMON'S POV:

I was in the middle of describing my father's estate when I noticed the soft snoring from the pillow beside me. I looked over. Her face was smooth and relaxed, her breathing even.

I felt something barely touch my hand. Our arms were laying perfectly parallel between our bodies, just barely touching. Her fingers twitched, brushing mine lightly.

I smiled and linked our hands slowly, trying not to wake her. When our palms were pressed together by our fingers, she moved closer to me, grabbing onto the leather sleeve of my jacket.

I could only stare at her face, captivated by the prospect of her dreams. What went on in that artists' head of hers? What did she dream about?

I forbade myself from asking the one question I wondered about most. Was I in them?

Of course I wasn't. I was the thing of nightmares. Not sweet dreams.

What must've only been half an hour later, I heard her just barely whisper, "Damon."

I checked for any sign of her eyelids fluttering open. There was none.

"You see?" Came Elena's voice from the doorway. She was just edging her way into the room.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, trying to inch myself away from Kaila without breaking my hold on her hand or her hold on my arm.

"I woke up and saw that Kaila wasn't there. I got worried so I came looking for her." She sized up the picture in front of her with a knowing smile.

"Yeah, shut up," I grumbled, scooting closer to Kaila once I realized playing it cool wasn't an option.

She started to turn and leave, but she turned back at the last minute. "You're going to have to tell her sometime, Damon." With that, she left.

I looked back at the clock on Kaila's nightstand. 1:42. More time had passed than I'd thought. I'd have to leave soon, but I was reluctant to leave the girl that made me feel more like the protector than the one to be protected from. She made me feel like I was the good one.

I brushed the hair from her face and finally let the last of my own tension leave my body.

KAILA'S POV:

When I woke up, Damon was gone. Elena woke me up and alerted me to the fact that Julia was still going to work this morning. She had already left.

"So how are you?" she asked, eyeing me strangely.

"Better than yesterday," I smiled to myself, pouring myself and Elena a bowl of cereal.

"Why's that?"

I glanced up at her. "Slept good, I guess."

Her odd smirk widened. The look in her eyes (which gave me the ridiculous feeling she knew about last night) as well as the memory of Damon's voice, even ranting and raving as it had been, lulling me to sleep brought a blush to my cheeks.

I crunched down on a spoonful of cereal, ignoring Elena and her "elaborate, now" look. No way was I planning on telling her about last night. Even though it was with friendly intentions that everything happened, the thought of telling Elena that Damon and I had slept in the same bed (or at least I had slept) mortified me.

No matter how jealous I was of Damon's attraction to Elena, I couldn't jeopardize Damon's chances with her. He had admitted to me that I was his best friend, which obviously meant I had done something to earn the trust of someone possibly more cynical and distrusting than me. I planned on continuing to be worthy of that fiercely guarded trust.

* * *

**Thoughts? Opinions? Thumbs up, down? Let me know :) Thanks for reading! **


End file.
